The Inward Eye
by Bob Everett
Summary: A simple looking job ends up being a nightmare that threatens to trap the Meltdowner forever.


The car rolled to a stop and Mugino looked out the window. It was as good of a set up point as any, two miles out from the target, a spot on a ridge that overlooked the house and the shoreline. It was a humble looking mansion, quiet and alone at lakeside with only a single dirt road leading away. Big too, and if anything like it was close to civilization she wouldn't mind one of her own. Sure, some of those "rustic charms" would have to be tossed and replaced with something more modern and sensible, but it would work.

She rode in back by herself, with the exception of a clipboard with briefing notes attached to it and a manila envelope. She picked up the clipboard and shuffled through the notes once again, replaying the scene in her head. Her employers, they explained, were interested in the future. This was an important time for Academy City. A number of large scale projects were already in motion, fueled mostly by foreign money. A sensible person who knew where to put their ear to the ground could hear whispers of space elevators, spaceborne solar farms, and superfactories. More obvious were the talks of heaven-piercing towers, centers of administration packed wall to wall with paper pushers and number crunchers.

Housing, of course, would be required. The men and women who made these titanic projects move would need proper accomodations, and while Academy City itself might not have room for them there were a number of small communities surrounding it that would take them in. So with that knowledge in mind, every handful of occupiable dirt was powdered gold and every blade of grass that hadn't been torn out of the ground to make room for foundation was paper cash growing out of the ground.

Trust us, they said. This is not an exaggeration.

The lakeside house was only the centerpiece of a property that extended from the lake's edge far out over a large stretch of grassy field. Her employers owned every square kilometer surrounding it and whether for the actual land value or just for completionist's sake, they wanted this chunk of dirt. Mugino was to negotiate a handover, or failing that, force one. She raised an eyebrow at the last, but men could be bribed and papers could be forged, they assured her, if the target happened to meet an untimely end.

Normally this would be a job suited for tough guys, brutes whose fists were bigger than their brains. They would have preferred the issue to be solved in-house, and they weren't without their own muscle, but five men had already gone into the house to no resolution. The target was far better equipped and skilled than the pleasant house would imply, or he was an esper. That's where she came in.

"So, this is the place," Mugino said to the driver. "Looks harmless enough."

"Yes," he replied. He motioned to his friend in the passenger's seat who passedhim a lit cigarette. He took a drag and handed it back before turning to face her. "Any questions?"

"No," she said.

They exited the vehicle. The sun started to dip below the horizon, casting an orange glow over the landscape. This place was far from the noise and lights of Academy City, though forests and around mountains. She rarely left home. This place was so empty and straightforward, simple grass, trees and hills. Academy City was all nooks and crannies, weaving alleyways, bright spots and dark underbelly.

Ever worse, the contract has specified for her to work alone, without Takitsubo's AIM Stalker, Kinuhata's Nitrogen Armor, or Frenda's explosive expertise. They weren't simply cheap enough to only hire the Meltdowner, but insisted that she worked alone. Oh, she understood, four to this operation would be clumsy where one would be elegant. Still, it stank of trap. The payoff was too fat and threw up all kinds of red flags in her head and she'd be sensible enough to turn it down immediately if it wasn't for an equally fat advance thrown her way.

It was the kind of offer you had to think about. She contemplated it over three days, in-between cups of expensive coffee and extravagant purchases. By the end of it she had two whole wardrobes ready for every season of the year and if the authority on calendars ever decided to add more, she'd be ready for that too. In fact, she was staring at her own reflection in the mirror when she made the decision, going back and forth on a designer dress that a year's worth of normal jobs couldn't buy. In the end she hadn't figured out if it really was a trap or not. She would do the job and if her employer happened to be stupid enough to betray her, then that'd be okay too. She was Shizuri Mugino, the Meltdowner and anyone on Earth be they human, esper or god would bow beneath her fury.


End file.
